” I am a proud nerd. I read a lot. Occasionally I’ll use a weird-to-everyone-else word. The other day I used the word “guffawed” in my retelling of an event not even thinking about it being unusual at all because, well, he actually did guffaw!…Most of the time my husband will say “You’re bafflegabbing again” and ask me to define a word I just used. Guess who introduced him to the word bafflegab… I collect words like others collect Precious Moments figurines.” a blog reader
Let me tell you about gifted humans I have known.

They have charts of the origin of the solar system as their screen savers. Buy brain specimen coasters for their birthdays. Loved BBC documentaries when they were 8 years old. Paint their living room 12 times in 4 years. Are bored at their jobs once they have mastered the tasks. Need eye masks, white noise, black out curtains, and breathing techniques to get to sleep and stay asleep. Know what you are about to say before you say it. Ran campaigns to save endangered species when they were 6. Watch the Lord of the Rings movies eleven times. Still play Dungeons and Dragons with their friends. Long for deep, loving relationships with other humans.
Do not believe they are gifted because they know how much they don’t know. Worry about life, the universe, and everything. Love The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Tirelessly meet the diverse needs of their feisty middle school students and their fellow teachers. Write letters to their future boyfriend in their fascinating journals. Engage in deep conversations with trees. Buy my books. Rescue animals, play bagpipes, fight fires, raise 2 kids, and run their small farm all at the same time. Change jobs/careers every 2-4 years. Use their medical intuition to heal others. Dance the Argentine tango. Grapple with the ethics of developing AI technologies. Grieve over losses from the climate crisis and take action for creating a more sustainable planet. Fight for justice for immigrant families and all humans. See how everything is connected. Create and appreciate beauty. Manage their existential depression and anxiety. Spend ridiculous numbers of hours in libraries and bookstores. Choose to face and heal their childhood traumas in psychotherapy. Seek answers to the world’s pressing problems. Wonder at the beauty of the light at dusk. Notice astonishing synchronicities. Cry a lot.
These are just some of the gifted (rainforest-minded) humans I have known.
Aren’t I the lucky one!
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To my bloggEEs: Do you see yourself on the list? What are the signs of your giftedness? Thank you as always for being here. And thank you to the bloggEE who inspired this post. Much love to all of you. May you all continue to bafflegab.
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